- How did the story of the Finnish re-immigration and ultimate exploitation in the Soviet Union become part of the story? Is this just another example of the unknown and untold history of the UP?

There are many motives for murder in the UP, and the consequences of the Karelia controversy are just a few of them. It was because even the grandchildren of those caught up in it wouldn't talk about it that I became curious. The reverse Karelian migration isn't unknown, especially to historians, but those it affected are still reluctant to discuss it. To a journalist that was red meat, and I found a good motive for murder there.

- As a book editor and reviewer you must surely be aware of the snobbery that exists about popular novels let alone mysteries. How do you view the dichotomy between the literary novel and the average mystery? Is the divide black and white with Art on one side and entertainment on the other?

Apples and oranges, really, and there is no real line of demarcation. I often am struck by the high polish and craft with which many mystery novelists tell commercial stories — a polish that is often lacking in literary novels. Some of the best mystery writers, like P. D. James, can elevate the formula of the psychological mystery to art. Art and entertainment need not be mutually exclusive. In either case a good story well told is the object of the exercise.

- It seems to me that you have blended the ideas and issues of a novel with the plot device of a mystery. Were you aiming at this sort of thing?

I just thought I was writing a mystery novel and adding some interesting furniture to the plot. That you think those tables and chairs amount to the ideas and issues of a novel is a nice compliment, and I thank you for it.

- Were you at all worried about what your colleagues and fellow journalists might think of the book?

Oh, hell, yes. Everybody wants approval. And if they tell you they don't, they're lying through their teeth.

- Can we expect another Steve Martinez mystery?

Yes. I'm now at work on "A Venture into Murder," and you can expect it from Forge sometime in the fall of 2005.